by Brad Baker
Last night at our college-age worship experience we gave our students an annual survey. The survey is short and sweet but it provides invaluable information about the specific college students we seek to reach, disciple and mobilize. I am convinced that it’s not enough for college ministry leaders to know the Millennial Generation in general terms. Statistics and broad generalizations, no matter how on target, only give us part of the picture. At times they can even mislead us to believe certain things about our students that simply aren’t true. For example an article may highlight the fact that the vast majority of Millennials are marrying and graduating from college later than previous generations. Based on that article you decide to make significant changes to your ministry only to find out later that in your particular area the national statistics don’t prove to be very accurate. You minister in an area dominated by community colleges and trade schools. As a result the delay in graduation and marriage is 2 years less than the national average. This is just one hypothetical example to remind us of the importance of gathering fresh data from our students. Without it we only think we know how to most effective ministry to college students around us.
Click Here to download the survey we used for free.
